There is a growing need for higher capacity battery technology, particularly for powering increasingly complex electrical devices, as well as for powering larger devices conventionally powered by other energy sources, such as fuel. For instance, High Definition and Very High Definition cameras and other such equipment require much more power than older Standard Definition cameras. Similarly, there is a desire and need to power vehicles from an electrical source rather than using fossil fuels.
Whilst it is possible to make very high capacity batteries which are able to deliver sufficient power for such applications, very high capacity batteries suffer from inherent safety issues. Particularly, incorrect coupling of such batteries, malfunction of the electrical device or damage to the batteries can cause rapid discharge of the batteries and the risk of serious thermal events. There is also, in many instances a desire to have compact batteries for handling or transportation purposes. For instance, current aviation regulations in some countries limit the transportation of batteries in passenger aircraft to those having a capacity of less than 100 Watt-hours. This limits device operating time available from such batteries, particularly in the case of high consumption devices such as High and Very High Definition cameras.
It is known to link together two sub-100 Watt-hour batteries in order to double the overall battery capacity. However, even doubling battery capacity in this manner still does not provide an adequate operating time for some applications.